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The Saskatchewan Roughriders are making sure the hometown hoopla doesn’t get to them.

On Tuesday night, players checked into a local hotel, abandoning the comfort of their own beds until after Sunday’s 101st Grey Cup clash with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium is over and done with.

Riders head coach Corey Chamblin also went to great lengths to make sure there aren’t any temptations to partake in Canada’s biggest party by setting a nightly curfew for the entire week, something not every past coach in the big game has decided to do.

That’s cool with veteran slotback Geroy Simon, who’s playing in his fourth Grey Cup and seeking his third ring.

“I’ve had it where we had curfew pretty much every day of the week and I’ve had it where we didn’t have curfew,” Simon said. “The time that we had curfew, we lost, and one time we won where we had curfew and the other time we lost. I don’t think it matters. As long as guys are focused and know what’s at stake, it doesn’t matter whether you have curfew or not.”

The 15-year veteran’s experience this time around will be different — mostly because it won’t happen in B.C. Lions orange and black — but there’s no place he’d rather experience Grey Cup festivities, even if places such as Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal may not have sub-zero temperatures and a blanket of ice and snow.

“I know that the atmosphere won’t be better anywhere else than here,” Simon said. “Playing regular-season games here and then a playoff game for the Riders and against them for years the atmosphere is like no other.”

Chamblin cleared the hotel stay and curfew with the Riders’ leaders, who unanimously supported the second-year coach’s idea.

“He brought it across to the leadership committee and made sure that we enforced it,” said Riders QB Darian Durant, who’s played in three Grey Cups, earning a ring in 2007 as a backup. “Because the last thing you want is for, God forbid, something to happen, and it’s a guy who’s probably not going to play in the game. That just brings extra distractions to the team, so you don’t want that.”

The changes around the city are noticeable, even though the revelry has yet to really ramp up.

Changes at Mosaic Stadium are noticeable, as well, with the capacity increased from approximately 30,000 to the 44,910 fans the venue will hold Sunday evening.

Simon is telling younger Riders to keep everything status quo.

“I just let guys know just handle the week like you handle any other week,” Simon said. “There’s going to be a lot of hype and things like that but just stay in your routine and don’t try to over-think things or do anything special on the field.”

Meanwhile, inside the Hamilton Tiger-Cats locker-room, head coach Kent Austin, who led the Green and White to a Grey Cup win as a head coach in 2007 and spent seven seasons quarterbacking the Riders, isn’t quite going to the same lengths to make sure his players are focused.

“We have a curfew, we’re going to check our rooms, but I’m not a big rules guy,” Austin said Wednesday morning at the head coaches media conference. “If you’ve got to have a lot of rules and enforce them all the time, you’ve probably got the wrong guys.”

Just like Simon and Durant, though, the veterans are taking it upon themselves to school the rookies on the potential distractions.

Henry Burris, who played three seasons with the Riders in two separate stints which was split up by a two-year NFL foray, has laid out the scenario for Tabbies youngsters.

“For us, guys like Kent (Austin), Andy (Fantuz), myself, and Luca (Congi) and guys who’ve played here in Regina have given guys the ins and outs of what to do and what not to do and kind of where to put yourselves as far as throughout the course of the week just to make sure you’re not caught up in the craziness of Grey Cup week,” Burris said. “One thing about Regina, it’s like the Super Bowl times 20. The people embrace this and they have a blast here and they celebrate it like no other. The one thing we want to do is enjoy the fact that we’re here, but we’re here on a business trip.

“We want to enjoy the ultimate party and that’s what our message is and that comes with winning a championship. That’s the best party you can ever experience. Right now, this party’s for the fans. The party for us is on game day and, hopefully, enjoying the after-party.”

RIDERS TAKING SHELTER

It was a tale of two extremes on the first day of getting down to business.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats took to a snow-covered Mosaic Stadium turf Wednesday morning in minus-15 conditions, while the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders took a 40-minute drive out to Moose Jaw in the afternoon to practise indoors.

The option was apparently available to both sides, and while the Ticats weren’t interested in commuting for the warmth, the Riders wanted to work on some things away from the elements.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Riders slotback Geroy Simon said. “In this situation, it doesn’t matter whether we’re indoors or outdoors, you deal with whatever circumstances you’re dealt and you just work it out.”

Both teams will hold closed practices away from the prying eyes of the media outdoors on Thursday.

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Roughriders impose curfew for Cup

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are making sure the hometown hoopla doesn’t get to them.

On Tuesday night, players checked into a local hotel, abandoning the comfort of their own beds until after Sunday’s 101st Grey Cup clash with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium is over and done with.

Riders head coach Corey Chamblin also went to great lengths to make sure there aren’t any temptations to partake in Canada’s biggest party by setting a nightly curfew for the entire week, something not every past coach in the big game has decided to do.

That’s cool with veteran slotback Geroy Simon, who’s playing in his fourth Grey Cup and seeking his third ring.

“I’ve had it where we had curfew pretty much every day of the week and I’ve had it where we didn’t have curfew,” Simon said.